Say Something
by Smorsies
Summary: High School is the best times of our lives, right? With friends like Meg, Anna and Gabriel and an apprentice of tiny Sam Winchester, Castiel feels like all is well even with his absent parents. He lives in his attic filled with plants. Dean is going to put him through a ride, and an ending they won't like, but they're thankful that they got to ride at all.


I will eventually start up my other story up again but I have no idea where to go. So I decided to do a change of scenery for a while.

Say Something is a story about Castiel and Dean (obviously) but for warning, there will be a major character death. It's a High School AU and I put a lot of heart in this one. So here we go, chapter one.

This chapter will be significantly longer than my other chapters.

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People don't give plants enough credit. Sure, people appreciate them and all. But no one really thinks of everything plants are capable of doing for us. For thousands of years humans have used plants for everything and now, it's like no one cares. I'm sure there are people that do, but especially with all of the construction and the destruction of trees and plant life, it doesn't seem that way sometimes.

I suppose some people really don't know where their priorities should lie.

"Hey, Castiel, what are you writing?" My thoughts were interrupted by my young apprentice, Sam Winchester. He's a nice kid. He's in eighth grade, I'm in eleventh. One day he saw me taking care of the plants in the greenhouse and asked all kinds of questions. I like teaching him. He likes to learn.

At our school we have a lot of rooms for extracurricular activities. There's the planetarium, the pool, garage, greenhouse, and the kitchen. The planetarium is a room with a dome ceiling that's real dark and you can see projected areas of the solar system. It's interesting, I took that class back in eighth grade, Sam's age. The garage looked like an old barn painted white with a bunch of doors and the road down to that wasn't paved, just gravel. It's actually kind of close to the greenhouse. And the kitchen isn't much. It's an old home ec. room with 5 stoves and a couple of other kitchen appliances. I've never really been in that room.

"Hey Sam. I'm just writing down a list of the plants I'm getting soil ready for. The school accepted my proposal." I didn't smile, but I felt a rush of pride. "I'm going to be planting some vegetables. Hopefully I'll get more people in the greenhouse and maybe next year when I'm a senior we'll have all the necessary attributes and we can provide the cafeteria with actual healthy food options." Sam grinned at me.

"That's so awesome. I wish I could take Botany but I can't until I'm a Sophomore." Sam frowned.

"Well, perhaps you could see if they are willing to allow you early access based on your GPA." Sam started to flip through his book and he nodded as he scanned the pages. "What is it that you're looking at?"

"Oh, it's for Dean." Dean. He was on the wrestling team, from what I heard, he's exceptional. Perhaps my intel is bias considering it's his younger brother.

"What is he making you do?" I narrowed my eyes and shifted in my seat. It wasn't a rare occasion that Dean had Sam help him do research on things he should be doing research on himself.

"Nothing too big. He told me to pick the most interesting planet to write about for his astronomy paper. I'm thinking Pluto." Sam grinned.

"I believe you're mistaken. Pluto is no longer a planet in our solar system." I corrected and he gave me a look.

"Not true. It got reinstated!" His excitement was nearly contagious.

"I suppose that's true, however it's been said to be a planet based on the research of a Harvard study. And besides, it's not Pluto anymore. It's now known as 134340." Sam pursed his lips.

"Ew. Why would they even do that? How do they expect little kids learning the solar system to remember that?(Here are the planets that we know. Round and round the sun they go) Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, (these are the ones near our stars) Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, (too) Neptune 134340 (we can't see you). And that's the solar system, kids!" I couldn't help the smile on my face at the song Sam decided to sing with his demonstration.

"It isn't significantly difficult to remember. I don't understand why they felt the need to change it." Sam shrugged and then slid a seat closer to me.

"Hey do you have any new herbs with you?" He asked with a grin. I can't understand why he was almost as excited about plants as I was, but even so it was very relaxing to know.

"Yes, I have basil." I reached into my bag and pulled out a ziplock bag with two basil leaves in it.

"Tell me about it." He urged and I nodded.

"Let's see... okay, basil has I believe a 97% daily source of vitamin K... Or was it 98%?... Actually I think it was 97.7%. And wait it's not a daily.. that's just in a half a cup. But it also has sources of manganese, copper, vitamins A and C, calcium, iron, folate, magnesium and omega-3 fats. Uh, I believe it has anti-bactirial properties. Yes, it does, it has an array of constituents called flavonoids. Also Orientin-"

"Castiel." Sam cut in and I stopped mid rant and stared at him confused. "Can I get more interesting facts please?" I rolled my eyes.

"It can help hangovers." Sam grinned.

"That's cool, but I have no idea what I would do with that information." I shrugged.

"Hopefully pass it to your brother.." I didn't mean to mutter it out loud, but I did, hence the look of confusion on Sam's face.

"You know my brother?" His voice squeaked at that, unlucky for him. Still going through the rough parts of puberty.

"Yes." Unfortunately.

"Really?" He brightened up. "How do you know Dean? Isn't he a year older than you?"

"Yes. But I'm also in advanced placement and since they cut back on actual academic funds for our new 1.2 million dollar football field, all advanced placement means now is that I'm in twelfth grade classes."

"That sucks. But it's cool that you have a class with my brother. What class is it? Auto body? Astronomy? Home ec? Calculus? Gym? English? French?" Sam rattled off Dean's classes so quickly I barely had time to process the fact that he was in both Auto Body and Home economics. That just doesn't even sound right, it's an oxymoron.

"Calculus." I answered, still slowly processing his schedule. I idly wondered why it was such a packed schedule for a senior.

"That's good, maybe he can get help from you." I tilted my head to the side. "He's balls at math."

"He is... balls at something?" I inquired slowly.

"Yeah, sorry. Something my uncle says a lot." Sam nodded along with his statement and I leaned back in my chair.

I sat in my normal chair for Calculus that day, but this time I couldn't help but feel my mind attuned to my surroundings more than usual. I sat in the left corner of the room, the center, not the front or back, right near the window. I liked this window, I got to watch the greenhouse sometimes.

Dean walked in. For the first time I actually paid attention to him. I usually didn't acknowledge anyone. I had friends, just not in this classroom. I wasn't a complete shut in.

Oddly enough Dean was shorter than I expected him to be. I'm almost positive Sam will tower over him. He was also a very nice looking guy. I could completely buy the fact that he was a heartthrob/slut or whatever it is they're calling him.

Then suddenly, my best friend ran into the room, which was incredibly odd considering she wasn't in this class. She didn't even take math anymore. She stopped at geometry.

"Clarence!" She whisper/yelled. Awkwardly, this gained a look from Dean. I ignored it as best as I could.

"What Megra?" She frowned at the name but continued with her story, but not before looking around to see if the teacher was in the room yet.

"My sister is totally hitting on your mini-me." The fact that she referred to Sam as my mini-me was rather comical considering he was almost my height already.

"I don't understand." She huffed.

"Ruby totally wants ickle Sammy-poo." I frowned at that.

"What makes you say that she wants him?" She looked at me like I was the most clueless person she'd ever seen. Then she did what she normally does when she rants, she started putting up her hair. She gropes it into a messy ponytail, then takes it out, plays with her hair, and does it nonstop. It's very annoying.

"Well she told me, duh. But you know I seriously don't trust that ho." Meg really didn't like her sister. I could see why. They fought all the time. Ruby was a mommy's girl. Meg was a daddy's girl. Their parents are divorced and half the time Meg and Ruby don't see each other. "She's gonna fuck him up somehow. I know it. Damn it, Clarence. I know it." She wagged her finger at me.

"Ms. Masters, I do believe you're in the wrong room." The teacher scolded. She put her arms in the air in defeat and left the room a couple seconds before the bell rang.

Throughout class I saw Dean giving me looks.

When the bell rang and I packed my bag, I looked up not a moment later and there was Dean very much in my personal space.

"Can I assist you with something?" I asked slowly, kind of surprised he was looming over me.

"Cas?" He seemed confused when he said it. "Or Castiel? Or Clarence?"

"My name is Castiel, that is correct. You are Dean. Is there something else we need to establish?" Dean rubbed the back of his neck.

"That chick, she came in here talkin' bout Sammy, right?" I nodded. "Well... Is something wrong? He didn't tell me if someone was botherin' him or nothin." I perked a brow and stood up, slinging my bag over my shoulder.

"He isn't in need of immediate assistance. She was only discussing with me that her younger sister, Ruby was in pursuit of your younger brother is all." He smiled at that. "This is not good news. Neither is Ruby." He frowned.

"Why?" Leave it to Dean Winchester to not realize the awfulness that is Ruby Masters.

"She really isn't the type of person anyone should get involved with. She is not down a good path." Dean pursed his lips and nodded his head.

"Alright, I'll try to talk some sense into him. You too, if you can. I know he likes you, Cas." That was the second time he completely butchered my name, but I didn't correct him. I simply nodded.

"I will try to steer him in a righteous path." I promised and Dean broke out in a grin and shook his head.

"You're funny, man." He patted my arm. I don't understand what the joke was, but I smiled anyway. Dean walked out of the room, I followed until Meg grabbed my arm and linked our arms together.

"Can I help you?" She didn't answer me. "I don't believe this is the way to the greenhouse."

"Shut up, Clarence." She swatted my arm and I sighed and accepted my fate, whatever it may be.

Suddenly she brought me to an area of the school where there was a high volume of people and noise. A lot of people were crowded in a circle, teachers were running towards it. Apparently a fight had gone down. My curiosity and Meg's persistence dragged us to the back of the circle.

It seems Bartholomew and Gadreel decided to get into a fight. A real bad one. Meg and I.. ok mainly Meg, pushed through the crowd and a teacher had Bartholomew pulled in an arm lock and Gadreel was on the floor covering his nose as blood seeped through his fingers.

"Jesus fucking christ, what the hell is wrong with you guys?" Meg grabbed Gadreel and yanked him to his feet.

"Nothing is wrong with me. However, Bartholomew seemed inclined to take it upon himself to put me in a place in which I did not belong." Gadreel straightened his back. "I will not be made a fool of again."

"Hey, you ok?" Dean somehow was right next to Gadreel with his arm on his shoulder. "Fuckin' a, man. What the hell is wrong with Bart?" Dean spat and Bartholomew tugged away from the teacher's grasp.

"Do _not_ call me "Bart"." He hissed and finally the principal arrived.

"Can I be excused to the nurses office first? I must cleanse my hands of this blood." Gadreel asked, the principal nodded and took away Bartholomew and scolded the surrounding students to get to their class.

"Hey, brother. What did I miss?" I knew him. I knew that guy, that's Dean's best friend. I just couldn't remember his name. Whoever he was seemed shocked at Gadreel's appearance but with a raised hand from Gadreel as he passed, a question was never asked.

"Hey Benny..." Dean greeted quietly. Benny, that's right.

"Come on, Clarence." Meg sighed and grabbed my arm again. "Time to go to your damn greenhouse."

"Did you talk to my brother about Ruby?" I jumped from where I was standing. I turned around and there was Sam, looking confused.

"Sam, you don't know her like I do. I'm best friends with her sister. Please, don't get involved." Sam seemed to not care for my concern. He lashed out.

"It's not your job to get into my personal life, Castiel!" He yelled with his customary bitch face. I sighed, it wasn't my fault, I just didn't want him to make poor choices.

"I apologize, it isn't my place." I agreed and he relaxed, but only slightly. "I care about your well being Sam. But if you want to get involved, then I can't say anything. Just know I'm here."

"She isn't that bad..." He mumbled. It seemed nice to be young. He couldn't see the true trouble he was leading himself into.

"If you say so."

"Hey, Cass." I looked up, the only person I knew that said my name that way was Dean. When I turned, I was right. Dean was standing there with his right hand woman. Jo Harvelle. I always wondered if they were together or not.

"Yes, Dean?" He seemed sympathetic.

"Listen, I'm real sorry about Sam gettin' mad at you and all. I know you two are friends. It's just, he wouldn't listen and I got mad and thought he'd listen to you. I didn't mean to throw you under the bus, man." I shook my head at his apology.

"There is nothing to be sorry for, Dean. I'm fine. Sam will come around. I'm only looking out for his well being and if that involves waiting for him to figure this out himself, then that's how I'll have to do it." Dean frowned at my response. This confused me.

"I just wish he didn't have to learn from experience, ya know?" Jo shoved him playfully.

"Dean you're such a baby. Sam will be fine. Let him grow up on his own." Dean eyed her.

"Yeah, you say that, little miss only child. I'll have to kick someone's ass if Sammy gets hurt." That was nice to hear. I liked that Dean cared about his brother. Especially a kid as good as Sam. "Well, see ya 'round, Cass." With a wave, Dean and Jo sauntered off into the crowd.

"Hey." Glancing over my shoulder I saw Sam.

"Hello Sam." I nodded at him and continued to grab the proper books for my homework later.

"I wanted to apologize about earlier. And I was hoping you could still show me your greenhouse." He was referring to the greenhouse I had made in my bedroom. I took the attic of my house considering it had a rather large window and I placed a makeshift greenhouse in front of it. It contained all of my favorite plants. Sam and I mused about him coming over to study them a while back.

"You don't need to apologize. I have already forgiven you. And I suppose you can come over. Let me ask Meg if she can give us a ride." I looked across the hall and saw that familiar mop of dark brown hair. She was arguing with Gabriel for the umpteenth time about something probably ridiculous. She happened to glance my way and I waved her over and she held up one of her fingers and looked back at Gabriel and snapped at him. Her nostrils flared and he had a huge smile on his face. She flipped him off and stormed over to my side.

"What's up, my unicorn?" I ignored the comment, she was weird sometimes and I've grown to accept this fact.

"Do you think you can give Sam and I a ride to my house?" I asked and she frowned.

"Sorry, Clarence. Can't. I got practice. So unless you wanna wait like two hours... but by that time I think this kid has to be home for his bedtime." She smirked at her joke and Sam just rolled his eyes.

"Oh wow, it's like jokes about my age are so new that I don't know how to handle it." He murmured.

"That's right. I'm sorry, I forgot you had practice today." I sighed at this. "I suppose we can wait."

"What? Ew. No. Let me just ask Dean. He'd be practically begging me to let him drive someone in his _baby_ because he's a weirdo. He loves showing that thing off." That interested Meg for some reason.

"What kind of car?"

"Oh... Um 1967 Chevy Impala I believe." She perked an eyebrow.

"What the hell is he doing driving around a _boat_?" I furrowed my brow in confusion.

"_How_ is Dean driving a boat on the road?" I asked, rather seriously. I was concerned for everyone's safety. "More importantly, how did he drive it to school and I've never noticed?"

"Oh my god." Meg just stared at me. Sam chuckled.

"What?"

"You are so cute sometimes." She shook her head. "It's not literally a boat. It's just a large car... You know what? You'll find out soon enough." She patted me on the arm and walked off.

"I guess this means we're going to see your brother?" Sam nodded and I followed him down the hallway. I always thought it was inconvenient to have your locker in the lower south part of the building. It had the offices and really wasn't near any classrooms. But that's where we found Dean. Talking loudly to Benny and Jo.

"And then this friggen lunatic says that he's gonna kick _my_ ass! That's a damn riot right there! Next time he tries anything, I'm gonna gank his sorry ass." Benny laughed heartily.

"Let me tell you, brother. You ever need anyone to help you teach that guy a lesson, come and get me. Ain't no way I'm going to let you have all the fun." After that comment, Jo had her gaze locked on Sam and I. This averted Dean's attention and he turned around and smiled at us.

"Hey Sammy, Cass." He nodded in our direction. "What brings you to my neck of the woods?"

"I was wondering if you can give us a ride to Castiel's house. I want to study his plants." Sam said enthusiastically and they all snorted. I didn't understand, was there a hidden meaning behind Sam's statement?

"Excuse me?"

"Botany, Dean. The study of plants. He has a greenhouse. I want to study plants. Do you even listen?" Dean sobered up and raised an eyebrow at us.

"Okay, and why do I have to drive you there?" I shifted on my feet uncomfortably. It wasn't my fault I couldn't afford a car. My father won't buy one for me.

"Clearly we're out of options." Sam retorted with a scoff.

"Fine, bitch." Dean bid his farewell to his friends and walked off, Sam following him and me quickly realizing I should be following as well.

"Should I be worried that you're into older men?" Dean teased and Sam turned red.

"I am _not_ thank you very much." He said indignantly.

"Settle the 'tude, bro." Dean commented coolly. "In reality I should be worried that Cas likes younger boys." He sent me a grin and I tilted my head to the side.

"I strongly resent that. I have no feelings of attraction towards anyone, especially Sam." I replied smoothly and Dean raised his arms in defense.

"Whoa there, easy tiger." I didn't understand. I wasn't snapping or being rude. Why did he make me feel like I was? I ducked my head and brushed my hair behind my ear awkwardly, not knowing what to make of the situation.

"Really? You don't like anyone?" Sam asked and I was only slightly grateful for the change in subject, however I did not want to discuss my apparent asexual tendencies.

"No one has caught my attention." I said quietly. I didn't know what else to say, thankfully Sam dropped the issue. Not so lucky with Dean, though.

"Seriously, dude? No one? Not even Lisa?" I wrinkled my nose in distaste.

"No. I do not like Lisa." I knew which Lisa he was referring to. I believe it was his ex, but sometimes they're really close, so perhaps they're dating again. Who knows with Dean.

"I don't know if I should be relieved or offended." He touched his heart in mock shock. I sighed. This is why I refused to partake in these conversations. "Wait a minute." Dean halted me, right as we entered the parking lot. "What bout Meg?"

"What about her?"

"You're with that chick all the time, you can't tell me you _haven't_ even kissed her." I glanced to Sam, looking for some support but that traitor seemed interested in this particular question. I exhaled.

"Are you any kind of romantically involved with Jo?" I asked nonchalantly. Dean looked scandalized.

"I would _never_." And honestly, it seemed like he was telling the truth.

"There is your answer." I gave a curt nod and Dean pursed his lips and turned around and we contained walking towards his car. I have to admit, I knew which one it was when I laid my eyes on it.

That thing was a _boat_.

"Sorry Dean was such an ass today." Sam apologized, nibbling on a granola bar.

"It's fine. I have to admit though, this was by far the most I've ever spoken to your brother. Ever." Sam grinned and nodded.

"I think Dean likes you. He talked to you like you guys were friends. Just don't leave me for him, got it? I have enough of my friends swooning over him, I don't need you too." He warned, very sternly I might add.

"I have no current interest in courting your brother, I promise." Sam accepted my response and looked over at the window. We were sitting on the couch in my bedroom, I felt sitting on the bed would be much to inappropriate. Sam didn't mention it but maybe he felt the same way.

"You really do have an awesome set up." He complimented, taking in all of the thriving plants by the window. "They're beautiful."

"Thank you." I was filled up with pride when I looked at them. I managed to grow everything from a seed and now they're hanging over each other.

"Do you ever use them to cook?" Sam asked and I frowned.

"I give them to other people to cook. I'm terrible with cooking though." Sam frowned, then smiled.

"Dean is an awesome cook. He makes me almost all my meals. He has for years." He stopped himself and frowned. This was interesting, why did Dean make him food?

"Sam if you want to, you can tell me anything." I said quietly. He looked like he needed to talk, he was just stopping himself.

"Um.." He cleared his throat. "It's nothing, really." I gave him a curt nod. When he wanted to tell me, he could. In the meantime I stood up from the couch and grabbed a plastic bag and started picking leaves from my plants. "What are you doing?"

I didn't answer, but I tied the bag and handed it off to Sam.

"Let me know how they taste." He smiled at me.

There was a knock at the door, startling both Sam and I and I turned to Sam.

"Do you know if that is Dean?" He shrugged and looked at his watch.

"Could it be someone for your parents?" I didn't say anything, Sam didn't push it.

We walked downstairs and a weird combination was standing at my door.

"Meg? Dean? Why are you here together?" Meg smiled and wrapped her arms around Dean, which was funny considering they never talked.

"We eloped. We came to tell you guys." Dean chuckled and walked through the threshold. I noticed Meg pick up something from the outside table.

"You brought pizza?" She nodded and threw the pizza box in the middle of the living room floor.

"I was going to come over and talk about our synched periods and braid each other's hair but Dean beat me to the door so I guess I'll have to hold that conversation up till they leave." I appreciated Meg's coming to my house. My parents weren't here so I probably would have just lived off my granola bars. "I guess I have to be polite and shit, do you guys wanna join us for din-din?"

"If it were anything else I would say no, but pizza is my favorite next to cheeseburgers." Dean commented and plopped a seat on the rug and patted next to him for Sam.

"Oh boy. How fun. Now we can all talk about our crushes and play spin the bottle." That made Dean smile and glance at me.

"Yes, why don't we talk about crushes, Cas?" She stopped mid bite and turned to me wide-eyed.

"Oh my god, you got your first crush and you didn't even tell your best friend, you asswipe?" She punched my arm and I watched sadly as a chunk of my cheese slid off the pizza, onto the carpet.

"See what you do?" I glared and looked longingly at the piece of cheese.

"Eat it." Dean said, through a mouthful of pizza.

"I can't. It's tainted."

"I will." And he did, and I looked at him horrified, He gave me a shit-eating grin in response.

"Enough of Dean being a man and tell me, who your crush is!" I glared at Dean and turned to Meg.

"I don't have one. Dean is fascinated because he thinks I'm lying about it though." She visibly deflated muttering how she got her hopes up and yanked the pizza box away from Dean.

"What? You can't blame me for trying." Dean retorted and made a desperate attempt to reach for the pizza box. Meg slid it away further. Dean pouted.

For the first time in a while, I felt genuinely comfortable in my home, with Meg, Sam and now, Dean.

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I hope you guys enjoyed. Please give me feedback and let me know if this is a story I should continue with.


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